Southport Survey # 225
The tide was low, the water rippled. the Sky was cloudy with a
Northwest breeze. Off shore there were small groups of Long-tailed
Ducks flying about with several flocks of 50 or more scattered to the
west. There were plenty of Red-throated Loons and Horned Grebes
scattered about. The one Great Cormorant was on the flyby. Flocks of
Brant were moving about as the tide was falling.
I had two odd occurrences. The 4 Great Blue Heron were seen flying
out on the sound. Now, these birds were not flying high in formation
as one expected, but flapping low over the water. A couple of times
they twisted and turned like they wanted to land in the water.
Imagine a Great Blue Heron sitting on the sound! The second thing is
that the birds were flying along the shore not across the sound. I
tracked them from off Norwalk to past Sunken Island.
The second odd occurrence was a flock of 10 fish crows flying about
Sunken Island. Later I saw another group of crows at PIne Creek Beach
feeding on the Barnacles. They scraped with the sides of the beaks
like I have seen gulls do.
The golf course continues to be empty except for one Killdeer.
Southport Harbor had only 2 Bufflehead and 2 Double-crested
Cormorants (first of the season). One of the pairs of swans started
building nest a nest again. All this rain has really messed up duck
breeding. At Southport Beach a large proportion of the gulls were
immatures. The Osprey that nest on the tower outside Southport Harbor
have returned and started piling sticks. I also has a pair to tree
swallows flying by.
At Burying Hill Beach there continued to be a large number of Long-
tailed Ducks off shore. The numbers were similar to that found in
Fairfield. I also found the Lesser Black-backed Gull, and an Eastern
Phoebe was calling from across the creek at Sherwood Island.
Dennis Varza
Fairfield
DATE 3/16 3/18 3/24 4/1
Tide Low Low High Low
Time 7:30 7:40 7:55 7:10
Brant 138_283_226_454
Canada Goose 16_28_34_8
Mute Swan 7_6_2_5
Gadwall 2_2_2_0
American Wigeon 2_10_0_2
American Black Duck 9_51_11_6
Mallard 14_27_4_10
Greater Scaup 5_16_48_0
Long-tailed Duck 99_212_132_216
Bufflehead 0_42_26_2
Common Goldeneye 0_0_3_0
Hooded Merganser 8_10_0_0
Red-breasted Merganser 30_66_43_46
Red-throated Loon 5_6_2_18
Common Loon 5_8_2_4
Horned Grebe 3_45_8_39
Northern Gannet 0_0_1_0
Great Cormorant2_0_2_5_1
Double-crested Cormorant 0_0_0_2
Killdeer 0_1_0_0
Bonaparte’s Gull 0_0_64_0
Ring-billed Gull Ad. 124_1263_107_106
Ring-billed Gull Im. 5_13_12_30
Herring Gull Ad. 177_560_124_358
Herring Gull Im. 14_5_9_50
Great Black-backed Gull Ad. 6_18_10_14
Great Black-backed Gull Im. 0_2_4_3
Burying Hill Beach
DATE 3/16 3/18 3/24 4/1
Tide mid rising Low High Low
Time 9:30 9:45_10:20 0:15
Brant 190_10_250_25
Canada Goose 10_0_8_0
Mute Swan 0_2_0_2
Gadwall 4_0_0_2
American Wigeon 0_10_0_8
American Black Duck 43_33_14_34
Mallard 6_36_15_6
Long-tailed Duck 88_220_30_480
Common Goldeneye 10_0_0_0
Red-breasted Merganser 32_39_14_10
Red-throated Loon 0_12_0_36
Common Loon 9_17_2_5
Horned Grebe 6_13_2_9
Great Cormorant 2_1_0_0
Ring Billed Gull 180_80_60/15_44/12 Ad./Im.
Herring Gull 50_34_10_48/5 Ad./Im.
Lessr Black-backed Gull 0_0_0_1
Great Black-backed Gull 2_2_2_2